The Cathedral At The centre Of The Occupy London Furore Is Supported By Financial Interests Worth $720 Billion

St Paul’s Cathedral, the site of the Occupy London protest, is bankrolled by banking interests that represent the antithesis of the demonstration.British blog Political Scrapbook reported today that the landmark can count Lloyds Banking Group, Fidelity Investment Managers and the London Stock Exchange among its financers. It is also helped out by several privately held companies and its board of trustees is apparently dominated by business interests.

Overall, the publication calculated that these interests are worth £450 billion ($720 billion).

This backing certainly explains why the Cathedral was in such a precarious position with regards to the protest, and could explain why the cathedral initiated legal proceedings to remove the Occupy London protestors. That legal action has now been suspended by both the cathedral and the city of London corporation, but the whole episode has already caused the resignation of three senior church officials.